It was a little difficult to think of what to write for my first opinion piece. As the sports editor, I have quite an opinion about sports, but what does it matter? The 21-year-old girl who edits the sports pages for The Linfield Review: What does she really know?

I am an avid Linfield athletics spectator. I am passionate about Linfield College and seeing its athletics programs succeed is exciting, but how can we see if we are so far away from the actual game?

The student section at the football games is getting pushed back farther and farther each week. Hey, football players, can you still hear us?

As a senior, I have been attending football games for four years now. For as long as I can remember, standing along the fence at the end zone is the place to pack together and socialize. This year, however, it looks a little different. The student section has been pushed back several feet from where it once was.

Why are we so removed? Isn’t our section important? Maybe we don’t pay money to get into the games, but we do pay tuition. Isn’t that enough?

As a spectator, I believe that our attendance and involvement is crucial to how the ’Cats play. If they can’t hear the support when they play at home, what is the point?

I am a former soccer player at Linfield, so I know what it is like to have fans at games. It was always so exciting to have people show up, especially with soccer fans being so close to the action.

I imagine football would be similar. How are the fans supposed to interact with the players if they are so far removed from the game?

I think the solution to the problem is to push the student section up to where it belongs. Linfield students are passionate about the football team, and we want to show our support for the players. Move up the section, and let the students back in the game.

Even better, relocate the student section. We are shoved to the end zone with tiny bleachers. You can’t even see the game from that angle.

With such a good football team, the attendance of students should be higher, but without having a good place to see the game, it makes sense that the attendance would be down.

Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Corrina Crocker can be reached at [email protected].